Report 2006-035 Recommendation 8 Responses

Report 2006-035: Department of Health Services: It Has Not Yet Fully Implemented Legislation Intended to Improve the Quality of Care in Skilled Nursing Facilities (Release Date: February 2007)

Recommendation #8 To: Health Services, Department of

To hold the consultant contracted by Health Services to the intended terms and conditions of the contract to develop and administer the reimbursement rate system, Health Services should follow best practices for contracting in the future by including clear language to describe the products or services it expects from the agreement.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From January 2009

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has fully implemented this recommendation.

In its one year progress report, DHCS reported that it had prepared a contract amendment that included a turnover plan. The turnover plan required the consultant to provide the logic and business rules of the reimbursement rate system and train DHCS employees to operate the system.

DHCS staff has received the training necessary to operate the reimbursement rate system and has created a software application capable of calculating reimbursement rates for the upcoming 2009-10 rate year. (2008-041, pp. 42-43)